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Lukus chuckled, trying to lighten the call. “Being a bit melodramatic this morning, eh? Listen. You called the doctor. Follow their directions. I assume they know what the hell they’re doing.” He hated it, but he knew what he needed to do. “Listen. I can keep things under control here today. You stay home and take care of Rach. Get her feeling better. I can cover today, but I need you here tonight in time for the show. You know I don’t have anyone else who can take that over this late in the game.”
“Thanks, man. I was hoping you’d say that. I know I need to be there tonight. I’ll see if I can have one of her sisters come stay with her while I’m at the club. Until then, I’ll just baby her.”
Lukus laughed. “All right, but don’t think I don’t know what’s going on over there. We both know how much you love to baby her.” He was relieved he’d made his friend snicker under pressure.
“Hey, today is different. She really needs it,” Derek said.
“Yeah, right. Let me guess. You already broke out the diapers, stuffed animals, and her binkie.”
Derek sounded defensive. “The nurse said to keep her on complete bed rest. Those diapers are gonna come in handy.”
“Fine. Go take care of your baby. Tell her Uncle Lukus hopes she feels better soon. Check in if anything changes.”
“I will. Thanks, man. Bye.”
* * *
Lukus
Six hours later, Lukus was starting to feel in control. With the exception of the liquor inventory, which he’d complete later with Ethan, he had almost everything else caught up. He was just leaving to head up to the loft when his cell rang. It was Derek again.
“Hey. Glad you checked in. How’s Rachel doing?”
“We’re at the hospital. Her cramping kept getting worse. When I went to change her diaper, there were spots of blood. I freaked and called an ambulance. What if something is wrong with the baby?” The sound of the hulking Derek near to tears gutted Lukus.
“Damn. Just stay calm. Is the doctor there yet? What did they say?”
“So far she’s only been seen by the ER doctor. Her OBGYN is in route. She’s crying so hard, man. I’ve never seen her this upset. It’s breaking my fucking heart. What the hell was I thinking? I can’t do this.”
A few weeks ago, Lukus wouldn’t have really understood his friend’s melodramatic rant, but courtesy of one Tiffany O’Sullivan, he now found himself in touch with his deeper, emotional side. By the sounds of it, the baby had had the same effect on Derek.
“Stay calm. Until her doctor gets there, we don’t know what’s happening. Thanks for calling, but you need to buck up and get back in there and be her Dom, man. I know you’re afraid, but she needs you to be strong.”
“Right.” Lukus could hear Derek taking a deep breath. “Well, the main reason I called is to give you as much warning as I could. There’s no way I’m leaving Rachel to do the show tonight. I know you’re gonna have my ass, but I can’t do it. You can fire me—”
Lukus cut him off. “Derek. Stop. Of course, you can’t do the show tonight. Your wife and child are in the hospital. Take care of them and let me deal with the shit here, okay?”
“Well, what are you gonna do? You know Tiffany will have your balls if you do the show, right?”
“Let me worry about that. You have enough on your plate. Text or call with updates. I’m gonna be worried about you guys. Give Rachel a hug from me.”
“Thanks for understanding, man. Good luck tonight,” Derek said.
“You too. Don’t think about the club. Just keep Rachel calm and safe.”
Lukus sat in his chair for five long minutes, letting the news of Rachel’s hospitalization settle in. He eventually pushed down his concern for his good friends enough to run through the planned shows for the night.
I have to come up with a solution that doesn’t include me on stage with someone other than Tiffany.
The early show he could get Mistress Nanci to lead, since the planned recipients of punishment were her two male submissives. The threesome were frequent patrons, and Mistress Nanci preferred to participate in her own brand of harsh, humiliation punishments. She and her subs were exhibitionists, often signing up for center stage. Yes, she could handle the nine o’clock show.
It was the eleven o’clock show that was problematic. Hell, he’d cancel if there weren’t already grumblings among the membership over the frequent club closings. First, the last-minute cancel two Saturdays ago for Markus and Brianna. Then, last night’s early closing for the collaring ceremony. He couldn’t consider canceling another show without losing members. For the hefty monthly fee they were paying, he’d be pissed, too.
Complicating matters was the scheduled punishment recipient. Were it a couple, he’d ask the Dom to take the lead and just participate in a supervisory role himself. But tonight’s late show was the real deal. Trisha was a single submissive member. Her Dom may have moved to the west coast without her, but her former Master made sure to leave her well off financially. He’d asked Lukus and Derek to look after her until she found a new Dom. That was how Derek found himself picking her up at the police station last week after she’d been booked for a DUI.
Trisha was out of control. Lukus was counting on the combination of her arrest and the harsh punishment she was going to receive tonight to teach her an important lesson. Derek had planned a heavy-duty paddling and belting for tonight to get her back on track. There was no way Tiffany would sit by and let Lukus carry out the plan he and Derek had worked out for the single Trisha, especially if she caught wind that Trisha had made it clear she wanted Lukus as her next Master.
A surge of frustrated anger overtook Lukus. He was the Master Dom, for Christ’s sake. It was ridiculous that he should have to ask permission from his girlfriend to do his fucking job. To do what he’d done hundreds of times before and would do a hundred times again. It wasn’t personal.
